No More Days Till Halloween

What are YOU doing to prepare for tonight's festivities? Why not start out with a jaunt through the following videos?

HALLOWEEN III is the best part of the series. Michael Myers can take a flying leap to Fuckyourselfville, for all I care. Why make room for him in a movie that already features killer androids, evil wizards, children with melting heads, a hypnotic flashing pumpkin that activates a magic death ray, and the testicular acting talents of one Mr. TOM ATKINS? God I love this movie. It should be playing on television every night, on every channel, for all eternity.




For some reason, this educational film only ENCOURAGES me to harass elderly drunks on Halloween. Maybe it's just the kid in me, I don't know:



And this cartoon always played before the HEADLESS HORSEMAN cartoon on the Disney Channel when I was a kid. For Pavlovian reasons, I still get wired for something frightening whenever I see it:



As always, THE SPOOK LIGHTS will be minding the store over at The Jackpot Music Hall, serving up a horrifying slice of, um, something really scary and such for everyone brave enough to attend.



(Extra special thanks to our pal Johnny Garfunkle for these fang-tastic screen printed posters-- they get better and better every year!!!)

The Price is Right

Here is our cat, Vincent Price.



Here is the pumpkin I carved in tribute to our cat, Vincent Price.




And here is Vincent Price in my favorite (non horror) role as vampy overactor (and obvious Errol Flynn knockoff) Mark Cardigan in HIS KIND OF WOMAN!

Opening Night!

I can't believe I missed an entire week without posting a single update. I feel like the victim of UFO-influenced time loss or something. I'm surprised the universe didn't fold in on itself during my absence. Perhaps it did, and what I'm experiencing now is no longer reality, but the overlap of dimensional sheaves as our existence is wadded together like a ball of paper... What an exciting time to be alive!

Anyhoo, last week was entirely consumed by the movie-- wrapping up the final edit, polishing up the press releases, getting some last-minute handbills cast around town-- which all pad off on opening night, which began with a three hundred-deep line pouring into the theater and ended with a standing ovation from the balcony. Hot stuff! Hot stuff!





EDIT: There's a whole slew of new images from the premiere--including the drunken fiesta that happened afterward-- up to browse HERE.

I tried to get pictures of scenes projected across the BIG SCREEN-- while I was to drunk to capably adjust our camera in the dark, I think the end result is something more interesting:






From what I remember, a good time was had by all (although the theater attendants had a difficult time removing us from the theater in our drunken stupor-- we wanted to stay and watch it all night!), and I can't wait to do it again in another 2-3 years when we've finished the next movie.

Sting of Death (1965)

Your movie for the weekend:



Featuring the voice of Neil Sedaka!

Never, EVER Feed Them After Midnight!

EXCITEMENT!

I was just turned on to THIS SITE which hosts dowloadable versions of all those READ-ALONG ADVENTURES records... including every installment of the 5-part GREMLINS adaptation!

As a kid, I remmeber pestering my folks to take me to Hardee's every week until the newest record came out. I must have collected four or five of each one... I have no idea what happened to any of them. Like most of my childhood coolness, they drifted away over the passing years.



Luckily, I'm now able to relive those sweet, sweet memories from the comfort of my own computer desktop. Ain't science something?

My love of all things Gremlin-related was somehow genetically transferred to my daughter, who along with a healthy obsession with the macabre has also developed into quite an artist. Observe:

I Predict Ominous Things...

Feeling surprisingly great today, despite the onslaught of grim weather this week. My mood has been aided by TWO THINGS:

1) This sweet FORTUNE TELLER'S TURBAN I bought at the costume shop last weekend:



2) And this FULL PAGE ARTICLE that appeared in the local papers today-- a story about our movie! In the legitimate press!

READ ALL ABOUT IT RIGHT HERE.



This makes us official superstars now, methinks. That limo full of well-oiled Tahitian poolboys should be pulling up to our door any second now...

The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)

Your movie for the weekend:

Murder, They Played

I've had my eye on this game at the antique mall for a while:



It's only five or six bucks, I don't know why I haven't picked it up yet. Aside from being a huge MURDER, SHE WROTE fan, I'm a sucker for board games that allow you to murder off the other players.

Which brings me to this:





How did I not know this game ever existed? Am I just old enough that I missed out when it happened? Or was it so small potatoes that it zipped under my radar at the time?

From Wikipedia:

The story behind the game indicates the death of a wealthy old woman triggers feuding over her will. The players utilize traps located on the game board, which represents a mansion, to kill characters controlled by other players in order to claim the estate for themselves.




I just checked it out: 100 SMACKAROOS on Amazon. Oh, well. Guess it was never meant to be.

The Annual Costume Conundrum

(Scary Manilow, Halloween, 1977)


Once again, I'm facing the age-old, last-minute dilemma: What should my Halloween costume be this year?

My options so far:

1) BEETLEJUICE, the old stand-by. Thankfully, I've never had to resort to this, but it's always on the list.

2) Curvacia and I thought about going as THE MANEATERS from SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, but the rest of our band doesn't seem as enthusiastic about it as we do, and the idea of a two-person motorcycle gang just isn't as threatening as it should be.

This idea is still on the table for discussion, though. I think it's a good one.



3) I've always wanted to go as forgotten side characters from sitcoms, like random guests stars on DOBIE GILLIS or any of the regulars at ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE. Unfortunately, this wouldn't require changing anything I wear on a daily basis, so the point is kind of moot.

4) We've often batted around the idea of doing a JOAN AND CHRISTINA CRAWFORD team costume, with Curvacia in cold cream and shoulder pads and myself with a pinafore and wire hanger bruises on my face.



5) Any sort of villain form the old Edgar Wallace KRIMI movies. A whip-wielding monk, or a guy with a skull-face slashing people with a razor, or some sort of hunchbacked strangler. Or better yet, a masked criminal mastermind with an army of superminions. .. This is actually my goal in life, not just an idea for Halloween costumery.







Ideas, anyone?

Alabama's Ghost (1973)

Your movie for the weekend:

The Return of Frankie Cargo

Curvacia snagged me some great paperbacks from the free book rack at the hospital: